Africa's Travel Indaba in Durban eyes foreign investments
Tourism industry stakeholders say more foreign investment at Africa's Travel Indaba in Durban would be a game changer for the local industry.
The continent's largest tourism trade show kicked off at the ICC on Tuesday, bringing together 4 000 delegates, and 160 first-time exhibitors from over 20 African countries.
Alan Campbell, who's with ANEW Hotels and Resorts, says they are looking forward to networking with other businesses.
He says the Indaba's come at a critical time for the tourism and hospitality industry, still trying to recover to pre-Covid levels.
"I think the South African tourism industry still contributes about 3.7 per cent of the GDP every year and I am hopeful that we will see a large amount of international representation at this year's Indaba - further foreign investment and a return to the 2019 volumes of an international perspective would be a game-changer for us right now.
READ: Thousands to attend Africa Travel Indaba in Durban
"I think domestic travel is still the foundation of where we are right now and whilst we have seen a steady rise in that, we do need to see foreign investment coming through as well."
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille will officially open the Indaba which will focus on tourism recovery.
Speaking at a tourism dialogue at the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel in Durban on Monday night, she said that tourism can be a catalyst for change in Africa.
"Africa's Travel Indaba and this tourism dialogue is where we deliberate how, rethink our policies, mitigate threats and identify also opportunities."
